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Home > Composers Datebook > Pleyel and Poulenc


	Podcast:		Composers Datebook
	Episode:		Pleyel and Poulenc
	Category:		Health
	Duration:		00:01:59
	Publish Date:		2018-05-03 00:00:00
	Description:		Pleyel and Company was a French piano firm founded in 1807 by the composer Ignace Pleyel. The firm provided pianos for Chopin, and also ran an intimate Parisian 300-seat concert hall called the Salle Pleyel – the “Pleyel room” in English, where Chopin performed. In the 20th century, a roomier Salle Pleyel comprising some 3,000-seats was built, and it was there on today’s date in 1929 that a new concerto for an old instrument had its premiere performance. This was the “Concert champetre” or “Pastoral Concerto” for harpsichord and orchestra by the French composer Francis Poulenc, with the Paris Symphony conducted by Pierre Monteux, and with Wanda Landowska as the soloist. “A harpsichord concerto in a hall that seats thousands?” you may ask. “How could anyone hear the harpsichord?” Well, the answer is that Madame Landowska performed on a beefier, metal-framed harpsichord built in the 20th century rather than the quieter wood-framed instruments used in the 18th. Landowska’s modern harpsichord was specially-constructed for her by – who else? – Pleyel and Company. Landowska needed those extra decibels, not only to fill a big hall, but also because Poulenc’s concerto was scored for harpsichord and – or perhaps against – a large modern orchestra, with full strings, winds, percussion, and a large brass section that even included a tuba! These days, of course, discrete electronic amplification can be employed, so the harpsichord soloist needn’t constantly ask, “Can you hear me now?” You can listen to a complete performance of Poulenc’s “Concert champêtre” played on a 1930 Pleyel harpsichord via the links on this webpage -- and compare the sound of a 20th century Pleyel harpsichord to a historic 18th century instrument.
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